Is it possible to reduce your biological age?
An article in The Times described Leslie Kenny reduced her biological age from 59 to 21. Kenny was diagnosed with three autoimmune diseases at the age of 39 - lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and Hashimoto’s disease - and told she only had ‘five good years of health left’. She has spent the last twenty years making changes to her lifestyle aimed at changing that prognosis. It would appear she has succeeded.
She recently measured her biological age using a finger-prick blood test provided by a company called GlycanAge, a test which compares levels of inflammation in the body to averages at various points during a normal lifespan. The test told her that her biological age was 21. So what did she do? A number of things.
- Avoided inflammatory foods; she cut out gluten, dairy and sugar.
- Undertook intravenous immunoglobulin treatment (IVIG), a therapy that involves the administration of immunoglobulin directly into a vein. Immunoglobulins, also known as antibodies, are proteins produced by the immune system to fight against infections.
- Quit work! Not an option many of us can take. She did this to reduce stress.
- Fasted regularly. This is a well-known way to reduce inflammation.
- Made sure she got plenty of good sleep.
- Used blood-flow restriction bands which maintain muscle strength.
- Undertook regular inversions such as shoulder stands.
- Took a supplement called spermidine. This is a naturally occurring polyamine found in all living cells. It plays a critical role in cellular growth, proliferation, and survival. It has been suggested this may slow the ageing process.
You can read the full article here:-
More on GlycanAge here:-
Kenny has co-founded the Oxford Longevity Project, more about this here:-